Shopping for Color in Downtown NYC

Here's a post on an island of a different color- Manhattan!

Kremer Brushes

This week my hub and I went on a city trip that wasn't to our usual Astor place haunts, but instead to some new ones that had been on our living-an-art-full-life must see list. We did have to go to one usual stop and that was Pearl art supply store to restock, but all our other stops were new treats!

And if you're a creative, I think you'll love these places too- in fact you might just want to hit the links in addition to reading my blog and bookmark these sites (which are all pretty impressive in their own right) for your next artsy NYC shopping trip.

Kremer Pigments Inc.

Kremer storefront window

I know I've mentioned the book COLOR: A Natural history of the Palette by Victoria Finlay on this blog before but its worth mentioning once again. Every creative, illustrator, watercolorist, designer, painter and well-rounded artist should own this book, and maybe you do. But if you have a hankering to get a hands on visual supplement to the origins of color you need to go to Kremer's.

my hub browsing the stock

This is a shop that sells all you need to create your own paints, dyes or mediums for watercolor, acrylics and/ or oils. They also sell damar, varnishes and inks. The store, lined with shelves of gorgeous bags of powdered pigments specializes in historical pigments as well as contemporary methods. If you like the way the ol' masters did it- or you just want to be in the know - you have to go.

Next stop: Purl Soho

Yarn at Purl Soho

Purl is a fabric store in Soho New York that you will often see advertised in any crafty magazine with gorgeous photos of stacked fabric.

Wool felt at Purl Soho

They have wool felt for felting, stellar embroidery thread, rows of gorgeous fabric and walls lined with delectable high quality yarn for all you knitters and crochet divas out there.

Next stop: Papabubble

What a name right! Well, years ago I took some glass classes at Urban Glass in Brooklyn, NY. For fun I took an additional weekend workshop on pulling sugar. We worked with it very much the way you do lampworked glass.

candies up close

Anyhoo- it gave me an appreciation for handmade artisanal candy and Papabubble is just the place for that! They have shops in some of the best cities around the world like Barcelona, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Seoul & Taipei. They employ the millefiori technique to roll designs into the center of the candy and specialize in making custom designs to order.

Papabubble Artisanal Candy bags for $5

Above you see two Papabubble Candy Artisans making a custom order of candy.

Next Stop- Kid Robot

Ok So we HAVE been to Kid Robot before, but not since they've remodeled and expanded their shop! The Urban Vinyl toy mecca still houses many DIY munnies and Urban Vinyl Artist figures, clothes and blind boxes.

We also went to a gallery where I saw artwork by some of my all time fave artists from our fave art magazines Juxtapoz and Hi-Fructose! But this blog has become long enough and it was all just in a single days work- so I'll blog about the gallery next.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did and I'm so happy I was able to take you along with us as we depart from chickens, coops and travel to return to our art-full lives! ~.~

Ciao- Amarettogirl

Comments

[light foot]

we gotta gooO! the candy looks so beautiful, as do all the pictures.a nd you look mad skinny.

[colin]

oh shit dude. these places all look so good. That color stuff is wild, I kinda wanna figure out how to grind my own stuff now.

also, you might have to show me a place to get some of the cool fabric at purl for super cheap around here. i'm thinking about making some bookshelves for mica using fabric and milkcrates.

[vrock]

this is AWESOME!!! i definitely wanna try mixing my own pigments now :)
All these stores look awesome, and since i'm spending so much time in the city these days i'll have to check them out!

[Nicole]

I loved this post!
Thanks for mentioning the color book; I'm interested in reading it.
The stores look like places I'll be visitin' soon.
p.s. you're lookin' pretty skinny

[cooper]

i feel like kid robot is heaven for emery

[nova]

HI! This looks so fun. Hope to catch up with you soon! I've got one more week of work. Glad you had a good visit to PR - the pictures are amazing.

[Sharon <3]

oh my!!! it all looks SO wonderful and very much like places I would visit. its a great shame that I do not venture out enough into my great city to make such fantastic discoveries this spectacular city has to offer. i wonder if any of the pigments can be utilized to make engobes/slips to be used in ceramics...hmmmm. LOVE the yarns and fabrics...how do you not over spend in this lovely places. anyway doll, you are looking wonderfully slimmer (need a little help in that department). REALLLLY hope we can get together soon before the school year starts for you again. much love muneca!!! OXOX

[Rosie]

What a fun, inspiring day. Even from afar, I'm inspired!

[yourstrulydear]

oh my goodness all of these places look amazing! i am so jealous! i LOVE bright colors and all things crafty. and i'm obsessed with candy. amazzzzing!

[Lilian]

Oi, Sol!
I missed you and your blog!!! I've been working a lot... no time to surf .... lol

These places are amazing! Those toys are awesome.

I'm loving these new pictures showing you more often. You're very beautiful!

Beijinhos da sua amiga,
Lilian

[Lilian]

...oh... and I also L O V E your bracelets!